Cirque D'Akatsuki
by Lady-Pyrien
Summary: She didn't fit in at home. Her life was a mess. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. She ran away. She came across a world where everything was upside down. "Welcome to the Cirque D'Akatsuki..." Discontinued, sorry
1. Welcome to Cirque D'Akatsuki

Hello all, and welcome to my new story. ^_^ It seems as though you all voted and Sasori won so here you go! I hope you enjoy

This was the very short intro chapter XD it would've been longer but the last line came sooner than expected and that is where i wanted to leave off XD

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><p><strong><span>Cirque D'Akatsuki<span>**

**Chapter 1: The Runaway**

"So fore head," the tall beautiful blonde stood over the crying girl, "You sit here pathetically begging me to leave you alone?"

"Please, Ino," she let pink hair fall in her face. Tears slid down the seventeen year old girl's cheeks.

"I don't think so, you don't fit in here, love," she grinned at her little clique gorgeous girls.

It hadn't always been like this. Once upon a time there had been happiness for the young girl. She had a blonde best friend who would do anything for her and would protect her with all her worth. They were neighbors, friends, and most importantly, they were like sisters that neither girl had.

The two would have tea parties when youngest, dress up when young, and once they reached middle school, it was make-overs. They were inseparable, at least, that's what Sakura had believed.

It was freshman year. The best friends walked into the building. After exchanging worried glances, the girls walked to their separate homerooms. Sakura took the more artistic classes, as well as health. She had always wanted to be a doctor. Ino received the sporty classes, including her continuation of cheerleading.

They had first block math together, as well as seventh block science. It was the two classes they looked forward to most…for the first half of the semester. Ino had practice every other day and on the weekends. She wanted desperately to become captain by the time her senior year came around. Sakura began getting caught up in art class, theatre and her newly added medical classes. They saw less and less of each other.

Ino made new friends, mean ones. The girls began to tease Sakura about her unique hair. It was odd; it was ugly. The blonde girl was either supposed to join in or be kicked off the squad. Her choice was easy, but later that night she promised Sakura that when she became captain, it would all stop.

Senior year was finally here and Ino had been captain for two years now. The teasing never stopped, it only got worse. The cheerleading captain was the ringleader now. Making sure the newbie cheerleaders joined in. The trend spread, and there were very few people who would even look at Sakura, less they be roped in with her and tormented as well.

Hinata was one of them. She was shy, too shy for the people of this school to be happy. The girl was also teased by the majority of the school, but even then, Sakura wouldn't call the girl her friend. The Hyuuga girl spent some time with her in the medical classes they took, but other than that, neither girl wanted the other involved into the other's problems.

"Come on girls," Ino muttered, "There's nothing else for us here." The blonde walked away with a small object in her hands: a pair of sharp scissors.

It was an entire eternity, well that's what it felt to Sakura, before she pushed herself up off the cold dirty school hall floor. She lightly dusted the frilly red skirt, of the long pink strands of freshly cut hair, that she wore. The dirt and hair could be pushed away and eventually washed off, but the rips that Ino left were too large to be fixed. Sakura reached up and felt the uneven tips of her hair. The once long locks she was always careful to take of were all gone. Ino had cut away the hair and left it short and ragged. Silently, the girl made her way to her home.

Her parents wouldn't be there. They always worked late and made sure to avoid the girl at all times. They had no idea why their daughter, born of a raven haired father and blonde mother, had pink locks. Her mother once loved her hair, telling her that is was the gorgeous color of roses and blossoms, but now…Sakura saw the looks. They had really been disgusted with it.

It didn't bother her anymore. She knew they wouldn't part of her life for much longer. Her feet took each step of the stairway slowly, enjoying one last time. Her room was cold, and dimly lit by her desk lamp.

As quickly as the pink haired misfit could, she emptied the contents all over the floor. Homework that would never get done, pencils, and pens, her notebooks with all of the answers scribbled inside the cardboard covers, made a huge mess covering the once clean floor.

Her clothes flew from the drawers and into the small bag. The girl's small keepsakes went too. Sakura walked over to her cherry porcelain bank and smashed it for the $56 that were inside. Finally, she grabbed a small paper bag and filled it with some fruit and other foods.

The time was seven at night, and the couple rolled into the driveway. Their door was wide open. This sent fear running through the woman. She ripped herself from the seat and ran inside.

"Sakura!" she made her way through the house. Nothing was visibly missing downstairs. Upstairs, Sakura's room was trashed and her piggy bank was destroyed.

"Call the police! I think we were robbed!" she knelt down and began looking for something. Instead of any clues towards robbery, she found a red notebook. Scribbled in black ink across the front was the word 'Pink'. Inside revealed a world the woman had never known about. It was written of Sakura's misery. All of her parents coldness, Ino's torture, her strawberry hair.

Her daughter wasn't kidnapped, they hadn't been robbed. The Haruno had run away.

It was one thing camping. There was safety around, a nice warm fire, and all the s'mores you could eat! But when you're wandering around in the forest blindly, with wild animal all around you, howling and hooting. Sakura pressed herself up against a tree again, feeling something watching her every move.

If she had known the night would be so scary out here, she may not have left. There was nothing she could do about it now, though. Her parent's were finally going to have the life they wanted.

She squeaked hearing a loud crash and a fit of cackling. Witches! Sakura immediately thought of running away before she was turned into some sort of stew or eaten by a wild animal. Her mind raced with the horrible ways she would be killed, as she raced across the forest floor. Tears streamed down her face and she squeezed her eyes shut tight.

The runaway didn't expect to run into a person, nor did she expect to be where she was. When she opened her eyes, she was in a small campsite. Huge tents were risen all over the place. Her green eyes met the golden yellow ones of the man she had bumped into.

"_Watch where you're going, runt_!" She gasped. Right down the middle, he was split into black and white. Green hair covered his head.

"Be nice to her, she is obviously distraught," he muttered again, this time his voice was soft and smooth.

"_Just let me eat her,"_ Sakura gasped and felt her heart begin to race again. Not only was this man talking to himself, he was arguing over eating her. What place was this?

"What do you have there?" she turned to see a man in an orange mask, with only one eye hole. He knelt beside her, "HI! I'm Tobi!" he reached out to grab her hand and shake it violently. The girl smiled.

"I'm Sakura…"

"Just like your hair!" he jumped up and began dancing, "Come on Zetsu-san! We have to show her to Pein!"

The black and white man, now known as Zetsu, nodded, and walked away. Sakura silently followed the masked man, Tobi. The camp was desolate, minus the bigger tent they were headed to. They were cheers coming from it. It seemed as though a small crowd had gathered in there to watch something.

She was curious as to what it was, but if there were any more people trying to eat her, she was gone!

To tell the truth, she didn't know what to expect. Maybe it was a group of guy playing drinking games, or maybe watching a game on a TV. But she had not imagined what was really going on. Inside the tent, there was a cloaked man hanging from the support beams by his wrist, which were tied up. His head was hung low, covered by his hood.

Sakura gasped, wanting to go help, but before she could do anything, Tobi stuck out his hand to stop her from moving. She looked at him in disbelief, then back to the man. What happened next blew her mind. From behind him, rose a set of metal blade wings. They slowly made their way to the rope, which they cut, sending the man plummeting to the ground below him. There was no safety net or anything below. She screamed out and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the man's demise.

The small crowd laughed and clapped. Sakura looked up to see a long metal tail imbedded into the ground with him standing on it. It lowered him to the ground and disappeared beneath his cloak. He bowed and looked directly into Sakura's eye before leaving the ring. A man walked out, his eyes hidden beneath his deep purple/red hair.

"That, ladies and gentleman, was our Scorpion of the Red Sand," he announced the next act, which was the incredible land shark, but Sakura didn't stick around. She was dragged into a small tent. Inside were seven people. One was a blue haired woman with a paper rose in her hair. The others were a set of six. All had bright orange hair and brown eyes. (This is not rinnengan Pein) He smiled, "Hi there, young lady," He stood.

"I'm Yahiko," he shook her hand, "That is Konan, and those would be my brothers and sister." the small group stood and left leaving only Yahiko and Konan.

"As you can probably see, we aren't very normal around here…" he offered her a seat, "My brothers, sister, and I form the group The Six Paths of Pein, the worlds only set of fraternal sextuplets that share, not only the same hair color, eye color and hobby, but also the most pierced." He laughed.

Konan stepped forward and offered Sakura a drink, which Sakura gladly took, "That's amazing, Yahiko, sir…"

He smiled lightly, "Konan had literal paper skin, able to be peeled away and folded into her origami…"

The blue haired woman received a look of awe from the young girl, "What about Zetsu and Tobi?"

"Oh them?" he looked behind her to the two escorts, "Zetsu is a set of Siamese twins, split perfectly down the middle. He had two different personalities, but one body. Tobi…well…"

"Tobi is a good boy!" the masked man shouted happily. Sakura giggled and Yahiko slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Yes, Tobi is our good boy…as far as we know he just wears that mask, but he is basically our usher, seats people and what not…"

"Hey, Pein," a voice came from the outside of the tent, "The shows over, we're clearing people now, un…".

"Ok, Deidara," Yahiko stood, "Let's give you a personal tour, shall we?"

Sakura nodded numbly, "Sure…" They exited the tent to see the small crowd leaving the campsite. They were laughing and talking about the show they had just seen.

The orange haired man lead her to one tent and entered. Inside was a blue skinned man with gills on his face.

"Kisame, we have a guest."

The man looked up with beady little black eyes, "Well hello there pinky…" Sakura gasped. He had a row of sharp teeth.

"H-hi…" she stuttered, sending the shark man into hysterical laughter. Another man walked in and sat down on the other cot. He looked familiar to Sakura, but she couldn't place it. He had red eyes, ones that stared into her soul.

"That is Itachi Uchiha, our special illusionist," Yahiko muttered. The pink haired girl gasped. Of course! She knew an Uchiha by the name of Sasuke. He was just another pretty face, though he was not one to tease her in school, he never spoke to her either.

"Do you know Sasuke Uchiha, by chance?" she asked Itachi quietly. His red eyes darted to hers.

"I do, he is my little brother…" he mumbled. He laid down and closed his eyes, ending all other conversation.

"I like this girl already!" Kisame laughed, "She got the kid to say more than two words!"

Yahiko chuckled and pulled her to the next tent. There was a blonde laying on the cot talking to a silver haired man.

"Dream on, un," he yelled, "You are not sexier than me!"

Yahiko cleared his throat, "You two, shut up for a minute!" He pointed to the girl. "We have a guest and I won't have you two being so vulgar in front of her!"

The silver haired man had light pink-purple eyes. He smiled and walked up to her, then took her hand and kissed it softly, "I would be honored if you slept in my tent tonight," he winked, sending Sakura into a raged, stuttering mess.

"I will do no such thing!" the blonde walked up and grabbed her hand, shaking it.

"I'm Deidara, un," He smiled softly. He seemed normal, she grinned. It didn't last long. She felt something thick and slimy rub against her hand and she shrieked. Deidara laughed, but pulled his hand away to show her the mouth on it, "I have four of these bad boys, un." He held up his other hand and all three of the visible mouths stuck out their tongues, his actual mouth included.

"I'm almost afraid to ask…but the fourth?" he motioned to his chest.

"Right here, un," he grinned, "It was a birth defect, I was one of four babies, but I apparently absorbed them…not completely though, un."

Sakura didn't know if she should be amazed or disgusted. She looked over the mouths and she grinned, "Wicked…"

Deidara smiled brightly, "Why thank you, un."

"Stop hogging all the attention, you fuck faced shit!" the silver haired man yelled.

"Hidan!" Yahiko growled, "I warned you!" Konan grabbed the silver haired man by the ear and began to drag him away.

"How is he special?" Sakura asked. Yahiko passed a look to Deidara.

"Don't be too surprised, but he's immortal," the orange haired man muttered, "He sold his soul to his deity and in return he gained eternal life. It didn't come without repercussion though," he sighed.

"He has to go through painful rituals, un," the blonde smirked, "Personally I like when he does, because he annoys me sometimes, but it also comes with voodoo like power, un."

Yahiko nodded, "He tastes blood of another and any damage inflicted on him, comes out on another…that's why he's partnered with Kakuzu in his act."

"Like me, un," Deidara grinned, "He was born with five hearts, leaving one pumping while the others are back up. Because of this, un, he was able to mess around with his body."

"He's our human scarecrow of sorts. Held together by stitches, and able to come apart showing of the blood thread inside of him."

"He is also immortal to a certain extent, un."

Sakura's head spun with all of this information. Not only did one man have gills, another had four mouths, but now there was an immortal duo involved. One couldn't die the other just had five hearts to live on.

"Has she met Danna?"

"That's so gross…why do you call him that?" Deidara stuck out all of his tongues. Yahiko motioned for Sakura to follow him, "Well, that was pretty much everyone,"

"What about this Danna person?"

"That sounds pretty nice coming from a lovely young lady's mouth, rather than that annoying bomber…"

She jumped and turned to see a man with bloody crimson hair and chocolate eyes. These eyes she knew. They were the ones that had met hers in the huge tent. He was the man who had been hanging from the support beams. His cloak was slightly torn and frayed, and it was a red brown color.

He stepped closer to her and grabbed a lock of her pink hair, "I've always loved this color…" he whispered, leaning down to her ear, "You would make a fine puppet…"

Shivers ran down her spine and a blush crept into her cheeks. He pulled away and looked to Yahiko.

"Pein, I'm going to bed now," She watched the orange haired man nod, "Oh, and little blossom," he turned to meet her gaze, "Welcome to the Cirque D'Akatsuki."

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><p>Hope you all enjoyed, Please review!<p>

Lady Pyrien

ps. Marionette will be up soon lol, i had a few things come up preventing me from writing it, this story being one of them XD forgives meh?


	2. Come See The Bomber!

OK, As I've said, you guys know who she'll end up with, well that is if you viewed the poll results or read the last author note. But I need practice with things like love triangle plots and the turning down of one to another. So bear with me and don't be mad -_- pureaase?

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><p><strong>Cirque D'Akatsuki<strong>

**Chapter two: Come See The Bomber!**

Sakura awoke the next morning with a headache. She also did not recognize her surroundings. 'Where the hell am I?' she thought to herself. Then the previous night came crashing down on her and she groaned. What had possessed her to run away and join the circus?

She heard a noise, of footsteps, enter the tent and she looked over to see the blue haired woman, Konan, was it? She had a tray of food and water in her hands. Sakura felt her stomach growl and beg for the food.

"Oh, you're awake," Konan smiled, "I brought you some food. You should eat, but me and Yahiko will be back shortly to speak with you…" then she left.

Sakura felt her stomach flip. What about? She desperately wanted to get it over with, but her stomach roared again, so she began to slowly eat the food. It was pretty good, but was a little spicy.

She finished the meal happily, then Konan came back in. The man Yahiko, or Pein, walked in next.

He seated himself in front of her, "I want to ask you a few things." Sakura nodded carefully, "You see, I get the impression you're a runaway, most likely from the town we were performing at a while ago." he waited for Sakura to confirm.

"I'm not going to pry into why you ran away, nor am I going to force you to go home, most of us are runaways and misfits," he smiled, seeing Sakura's sudden discomfort, "But I would like to offer a position for you here. You see we are in constant need of many things and always have jobs open. You will receive pay, though with food and shelter provided it will be mostly for your own frivolity. I would like to know if you are interested. The jobs are small, such as cleaning if it's needed or even first aid, like I said there is a lot.

"How old are you?" the orange haired man asked, tilting his head.

"…seventeen, sir," she muttered.

"Please, call me Pein," he chuckled, "Are you interested in this job?"

Sakura thought it over. She had no where else to go, nor would she fit in with her hair. Anywhere else would be hard. She hadn't even graduated high school yet, who else would hire her?

"Yea, that sounds great!" she smiled.

Pein grinned, "Good deal, you can start today or tomorrow, Konan can run you over everything you'll need to know." He stood and left.

For the next hour, Konan explained the small odd jobs that needed to be done. The few listed were actually really easy things to do. Sakura took the list and started walking towards the mess hall tent. When she entered, most of the group looked up at her. She recognized a few of them, of course the ones she met the night before. The blond, Deidara, stood and walked up to her.

"Good morning, un," the man then proceeded to leave the mess hall, followed by the masked boy. Tobi started begging his sempai for candy or something like that. Sakura watched them walk away and then Deidara smacked Tobi upside the head. He cried out in protest and started whining even more.

Sakura giggled softly, then quickly moved over to where some dirty dishes were stacked up. Sighing heavily, she began washing them. The task was simple and she was thankful for that. An hour later, the whole group was done with their meals, and that enabled her to get the rest done quickly.

Her fingers wrapped around a glass serving dish, mostly empty, but still had the remainder of egg crusted to the sides. She grimaced and walked to a small trash can and began scraping. Her hand slipped and a yelp escaped her lips when she dropped the glass container on the ground, sending it to hell as it shattered into a thousand pieces.

Quickly, the cherry blossomed head, knelt down and began picking up the shards and throwing them into the trash bin. Tears slipped down her cheeks. She ruined the first job she was given, and it was terribly simple. Her balanced was lost and she fell backwards onto her butt. "Great…" she groaned, placing her hands in front of her to get up. Pain erupted in her hand, as blood began seeping from between her fingers.

On closer inspection, she had a rather large piece of glass lodged into her hand. Her heart began to beat faster watching the clear glass turn pink and red as her blood quickly coated it. Fear rose in her. What should she do? Was this something you left in until you got help, or should she just pull it out and go get help? She began to panic and felt the rush of tears.

Another hand grabbed hers, sending a small jolt of pain into her hand. She wince and looked up into the violet eyes of the Cirque's immortal, Hidan. He grinned, "I see you're already getting into trouble…"

She gasped, "Please don't tell anyone! I can't lose this job…" she sobbed and he laughed, which confused the girl. He leaned forward and licked some of her blood away. Sakura's emerald eyes widened and she trembled.

"You're blood is sweet…" he grinned, "But it's fucking horrible it has to be spilled for some damn glass…" he leaned forward and his lips clashed with the girl's.

Sakura gasped as she tasted her own coppery blood on his lips. Her heart raced and made her feel utterly panicked. How did people normally act when some blood loving man was kissing them? Not just any kiss, it was her first kiss!

The frightened girl pulled away and backed away from Hidan and had no idea what to do. Part of her wanted to kick him and yell at him, but then she would be kicked out of the only placed that needed her.

His face held a smirk, a bloody smirk. Her blood dripped off his lower lip, and he licked it up.

"Fucking delicious," he held up a small object in his hand. She gasped. It was her shard. Her eyes darted to her hand, which was free of the glass that had been in it.

"Sorry, pinky, but I needed to distract you so I could pull it out," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth. He grabbed her bleeding hand and wrapped it around it.

"Go tell Konan I dropped her dish and you got injured," he sighed.

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, knowing he would get in trouble with the woman, but he glared.

"Just fucking do it, pinky…"

She nodded shyly and walked out of the tent, but not before throwing a look back to him. He was cleaning up her mess.

Sakura made a mental note to thank him later. Her feet carried her to Konan's tent, where she opened the flap, "Konan…?" she looked over to see the blue haired woman holding a small stack of white paper. Her fingers twisted the paper and it slowly formed into a white rose. Then she started the next. Sakura knew she shouldn't have, but she watched the woman go through the small stack, until she had eleven roses in all.

The pink haired girl walked forward and bit her lip. Konan had tears running down her paper skin. "…Konan?" Sakura muttered softly.

The paper woman smiled softly, "I'm sorry Sakura, I was just practicing my origami, what do you need?"

Sakura held out her hand, the cloth was already soaked through with blood. She bit her lip, wondering if she should just tell her the truth, rather than let Hidan take the fall, like he wanted. His angry face came into her mind, yelling at her to just fucking do it. The girl shook her head.

"What happened!"

"I wash cleaning the dishes…and…H-Hidan he…he dropped a glass dish…and it shattered and…" Konan stood, interrupting the girl.

"When I get my hands on him…" she sighed, "let's get you fixed up." Sakura sat still as Konan cleaned the gash and sprayed antibiotics on it. She then called out for Kakuzu. The towering, dark skinned man walked into the room. Konan explained she needed him to stitch up Sakura's hand.

The man nodded and knelt down and grabbed the girls wounded palm. She watched in fascination as a long blackish grey thread seeped out of one of his stitched up lines. In short little bursts of stinging pain, it wove itself into her hand, closing up the gash. When he finished he severed the thread and stood to leave.

"Thank you, Kakuzu," Sakura smiled. He nodded and left. Konan re-cleaned it and sent Sakura on her way, telling her to take her tasks easier.

Sakura spent the next few hours making beds and making sure the dirty clothes were picked up to be taken to a laundry service place later. She finally finished about six that night, just in time to see Tobi directing a bunch of people to the huge tent. So they were starting their show? She smiled and walked up to the masked man, "I don't suppose there's a seat for me in that tent?"

She was aware of the people assuming she had cut in front of them or was begging for a free show. It was then she noticed that Tobi was wearing a black jacket with red and white clouds all over it. She turned to see one of the Path's walking to the tent. He, too, was wearing the jacket. It was longs, almost like a trench coat.

"Hey, Tobi, what's with your jackets?"

"They mean that I'm part of the Akatsuki!" he bellowed happily. Sending more people toward the huge tent.

"Oh…" she felt a little out of place now. Tobi led her to the tent with one of the groups, telling her to walk to the VIP box, Zetsu would let her in.

She did as told, and the half black, half white man gave her an odd grin, "Hello there, little blossom."

She smiled in return and entered the closed off section of seats. She sat down and rested her head on the small wall/guard and boredly waited for the show to start.

The tent filled quickly with spectators. They nosily talked about having seen the shoe already and how 'you just have to see the freak with the detachable body, or the weirdo with four mouths'. Sakura scowled. Was that always going to follow her around? She was always going to be a freak? Even, now, after she had escaped her old life, the people around her were considered freaks. She took offense, but let it go. It was none of her business… and they hadn't been talking about her, only the people she had just met recently.

The room darkened and Sakura looked up to see the man from the night before, the one with the plum colored hair. He held up a small microphone to his mouth, "Welcome to the Cirque D'Akatsuki, where we will blow your minds and test the boundaries of reality. We with stupefy and amaze. You will a man die, over and over, a man shark, and even a woman of paper skin!" the crowd roared, "Remember, things will get bloody, to the squeamish should probably not have come…" he exploded in a shower of white sparkles. I gasped. His voice echoed softly, "And now…Deidara of the Clay…"

Green eyes watched intently as the blonde walked out into the center of the ring. His black and red cloak fluttered wildly behind him. On his head, rested a straw hat with white strips of cloth hanging down, mixing with the blonde hair. Two more cloaked figures walked out and set out several tables and target around the ring. On the tables, they placed huge blocks of light tan clay.

He reached out to the sides and gripped the clay as two huge handfuls. His palms turned upwards and the clay disappeared into the hands. The mouths chewed at it then he released them in a shower of small clay spiders. The crowd clapped, but the way Deidara moved let Sakura know that wasn't the full extent of his act.

The little clay creatures smacked into the targets and everyone that hit blew up into a little shower of colorful sparks. "They're fireworks!" several people exclaimed.

Deidara smiled and grabbed more clay and ended up with a perfect, though lacking color, replica of himself. The replica smiled and if that wasn't enough to freak the people out, it began to grow bigger and bigger until it finally exploded. A rainbow of fire swirled around the crowd, sending shock and awe through everyone.

He finished his act up and walked off stage with the crowd gong wild. The red haired man walked out again, "Deidara has done well, but up next is out very own land shark!" people either began to whisper questioningly or excitedly, based on if they had seen it all before.

"Kisame of the Shark!" he disappeared again, this time in a water balloon like manner, exploding but leaving his voice echoing. Kisame walked out with his black and red cloak waving behind him. The crowd clapped and he smiled.

His act consisted of basically showing his shark like body, getting into a tank of water and remaining for longer than humanly possible. Sakura found out he would remain there until well after the show so people could examine the tank, to show he had no way to breath air and those were gills on his cheeks.

Next up was Itachi. The red headed ring leader had this time faded into a swirl of energy. Sakura was amazing, but she realized that he never really died or anything, and what he did only reflected what the next Akatsuki was going to do.

Itachi walked into the center of the ring. For awhile he just stood there, eyes downcast. The crowd began to whisper. The Uchiha looked up, his red eyes glinted in the light. Sakura found herself drawn to look into them, as did everyone in the crowd.

Suddenly Sakura found herself on a rollercoaster going at full speed. It was dropping down from a huge towering bend. Sakura felt herself scream, and she heard the screaming around her, and upon looking, it was people from the crowd.

Her hair whipped wildly as they entered a cave of the rollercoaster. It began dark and the carts began to speed up to blinding speeds. She wanted to close her eyes but she couldn't. a glowing red appeared at the end of the tunnel, but it seemed to get farther and farther away. She started panicking. She heard ghostly laughter all around her in the cave, and then demonic faces started popping out of nowhere, sending her fear reeling.

When they finally exited the cave, they were sitting right back in the stands in the tent. Itachi stood in the same place he had been the entire time.

"You know, it's rude to fall asleep during someone's act…" he whispered before bursting into a ton of black birds, which flew into the darkness.

Sakura shook her head and many people started questioning what had just happened. It turned out that there had been several different illusions. She just happened to get scary thrill ride, where as a few others had been in things equally as scary.

The red haired man came back out, "It seems the Immortal Duo wishes to seek audience with you," he walked off stage, rather boring and gave no indication as to what was next.

Sakura leaned in her seat when Hidan and Kakuzu walked out. Hidan's cloak was half open, showing off the little pendant. Kakuzu looked as he always had when she saw him, white hood and black face covering, with some big black and red coat.

The silver haired man grabbed his coat and pulled it off. He smiled big pulling out a long black pike. The man took the long spear and tossed it to Kakuzu, "Do your worst, Asshole!"

The tall man growled, "With pleasure you little shit…" he took the black pike and tossed it directly into Hidan's gut. The silver haired man fell back onto the ground. His blood spilled out all over and Sakura's eyes widened.

People in the crowd gasped and she could tell they wished to help, but when Hidan stood back up and pulled the weapon from himself, everyone jumped up.

The violet eyed man growled, "That didn't even sting, you must be fucking losing your touch!" he took the weapon and plunged it into himself, right through the heart.

Any normal man would have been killed, but not Hidan. He laughed in a psychotic manner. Kakuzu glared and raised his arm and the limb shot out toward the laughing male. It gripped Hidan's neck.

Sakura saw thousands of thick black cords, much like the one in her hand. The tall man dragged Hidan toward him and then punched him across the face.

Hidan began yelling profanity, sending the crowd into a foul mouthed induced laughter. To them, it was just like a scene from some action/comedy. The two fought like brothers. Hidan sent a kick into Kakuzu's chest, making the older man let him go.

Kakuzu glared with his odd eyes and ripped off his cloak, preparing to fight the smaller silver haired man.

Sakura saw the full extent of what they meant by 'human scarecrow'. he had long ropey stitches covering his entire body. These were literally holding him together. He grabbed the hood and pulled it off.

A blush spread across the girl's face. He was kind of cute, in that creepy way. Long uneven brown hair tumbled out and framed his face.

Hidan started his crazy laughter and rushed at the man slamming his fist into face. It didn't seem to do much, so the tall man grabbed Hidan and flung him across the room. He landed with a sickening thud, but got up and grabbed his pike and lodged it into Kakuzu, who grabbed Hidan and threw him again. He pulled the long metal from his side and dropped it to the ground, "Are you trying to kill me this time?"

"Yes, yes I am ass hat!" the crowd laughed. Hidan came running and Kakuzu sighed and growled.

The silver haired man ended up with a sharp cord around his neck. Kakuzu kept squeezing until Hidan's head came falling clean off. People in the crowd then did one of the following: Cheering as seeing a beheading, passed out for same reason, or screamed.

Sakura filled with fear for the man. Was this part of Konan's punishment, for what Sakura had done? Sakura felt tears roll down her cheeks. He was immortal, yes, but could he really survive his head coming off?

Kakuzu dropped the body and began to walk away.

"Hey!" a voice yelled, "You can't just leave me here you fat fuck!" Sakura watched the head start screaming more profanity at Kakuzu.

The tall man turned back and in the same way he had done for her, he sewed Hidan's head back on. The two left, with the silver haired man yelling angrily.

Konan did a flying paper trick. The Six Paths did so many different tricks, including hanging my piercing and those Chinese acrobat tricks that huge groups did. Zetsu hadn't been in the show and then the red head walked out again.

"As our show nears its end, I'd like to tell you, our boys and lady have had fun entertaining you, but we've saved the freakiest for last!"

Sakura's eyes widened. The only one she had not seen, "Scorpion of the Red Sand!"

Sasori walked out with his red-brown cloak, rather than the Akatsuki uniform. He raised his arms and another person joined him in the ring. It was a tall man with yellow eyes and black hair. He opened his mouth and Sakura gasped. That man wasn't human…it was a walking puppet!

The cloaked man raised his hands and the puppet slowly made its way across the ring. With Sasori's fingers moving, the puppet followed, doing flips and things, but about half way through the puppet was joined by another. They turned on Sasori and flung him into the air and shot rope out to bind their master up by his hands. Sakura had seen this the night before.

He was hanging up and completely defenseless against the attacking puppets. They pulled out swords and knives and flew at him. A long metal cord came out from beneath the cloak and knocked them back and continued to defend the helpless man. Finally, with the puppets defeated, another oddity came from beneath the cloak. It was the blades she had seen before. They sliced the ropes and left him to fall, but he was caught by the cord, which began to slowly disappear beneath the cloak, lowering him to the ground.

His feet hit the ground and he looked up directly into Sakura's eyes. The girl squeaked. His low voice echoed through out the entire tent.

"I'm going to try something a little different this time around, I'm going to need a volunteer…" his eyes pierced Sakura's and despite the many people begging, he walked up to her and reached out his hand.

Sakura shook her head, but he gripped her hand and pulled her from the VIP box, "Isn't she just lovely," he muttered to the crowd, "She's the newest addition to our little family…" he spun her around and left her standing to the right of him.

She blinked and felt her stomach twisting in knots. The entire crowd was staring at her. She began to run toward the exit but something stopped her. She couldn't move. Fear rose and she turned her head to meet the cold chocolate eyes of Sasori.

A smirk was on his lips, and with his hands raised he pulled his hand back, making her step forward. He had control of her somehow.

She tried to fight, but instead of running like she wanted, she began to dance. "A fine puppet, no?" the crowd cheered.

The show was cut short when Deidara and Hidan came running out, into the ring. Hidan had some of Deidara's clay ad was molding it into some very suggestive things. Deidara was beyond angry, and was chasing him down.

"Give it back, un!"

"Fuck off! I had it first!" Sakura glared, they were being children about it.

"It was mine first, un!" Deidara threw something that had been in his hand and it missed Hidan, but exploded against one of the pillars holding the tent up. The pillar began to crumble. Sakura's eyes widened in horror.

Tobi and Zetsu yelled for everyone to get out, and so they did. People filed out as quickly as possible. Deidara yelled out and damn it, and Hidan laughed.

The pillar came down on top of Hidan and Sasori. Hidan grunted, feeling his ribs break beneath the pillar.

"Damn you fuck head! I will kill you when I get out from underneath this thing!"

Sasori just laid there and the cord tried to move, but had been pinned, too. Sakura gasped. Hidan was immortal, or at least couldn't be killed, so she knew he would be fine after awhile, but Sasori was not.

She ran over to the two, and turned to Deidara, "Go get help!" The blonde nodded and ran off to find Kakuzu and Pein.

A few minutes passed, and Hidan had non stop screamed and ranted about the many ways he was going to kill the blonde. Sakura bit her lip, she had to do something.

Shaking her head she reached down and gripped the pillar. It was heavy, but not quite as heavy as it looked. Sakura pushed adrenaline throughout her body. She gripped harder on the pillar and lifted it up. Sweat poured down her face.

Deidara ran in with Kakuzu and Pein. Their eyes widened at the sight of a little seventeen year old girl holding up the pillar that usually took several of their men to place.

"Don't just stand there and gawk, pull them out!" she screamed. The boys nodded and went to pull them out. Once they were clear of the pillar, she let it fall to the ground, then she rushed to the two's sides.

Hidan was already up and moving, meaning his ribs were probably already healing up. Sasori also sat up. He looked up at Sakura. He grinned, "You're more special than we thought."

Sakura gasped, he shouldn't be able to talk, much less move like that. "How are you…but…"

She watched him pull the cloak off to check the extent of the damage. She stared at him in amazement. He wasn't human. His body was held together with screw and bolts. His limb were made of wood, but covered in synthetic skin. A small circle was in his chest, with his name written neatly on it. His stomach was wide open, but had the cord coiled inside. Part of the chest was cracked and broken.

"It shouldn't be too hard to fix." he muttered.

"You…you're a puppet…" Sakura whispered.

* * *

><p>Meh, I was kinda rushing it, I got stuck and I wished I would've spent more time on it, BUUUT I'm working on Home too. PLEASE HELP WITH THE TITLE FOR THAT STORY!<p>

ONt another note. I have come across another SakurAkatsuki obsession . I'm writing a fic for it, but I won't publish until I'm sure I'll continue with it.

So as always I hope You enjoyed ^_^ please review

Lady Pyrien


	3. We Come From All Over!

Here's chapter three. ^_^ I had a bit of trouble starting this one, but I did better later on XD

anyway, enjoy.

OH, i use a bit of japanese in this to name Inner Sakura, I don't know japanese very well and went through several websites to make sure that it was correct, but oh well. Im sorry if it's not. lol

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Cirque D'Akatsuki<strong>

**Chapter Three: We Come From All Over**

After her massive display of lifting the pillar, Pein instantly started testing this new found ability. Sakura was put through a few lifting exercises.

"It's lighter than the pillar…why are you having so much trouble?" he asked circling the young pink haired girl.

She shrugged, "I dunno…" he sighed. He knew she wasn't really giving it her all. Why? The man shook his head, "Try again…"

She rolled her green eyes and gripped the stone in front of her. Straining, the Haruno runaway pulled up, but nothing happened.

"What is different this time?" he wondered aloud.

"You two should probably take a break, the poor girl's been harassed by your 'training' enough." the blue haired woman handed Sakura a glass of ice cold water.

"Thank you," the younger girl muttered, taking a long drink. Pein sighed, and sat on the boulder.

"I don't get it…why can't she lift it? It's one-fourth the weight of one of those pillars and she lifted that with ease!"

Konan only giggled handing him a glass of water. He gave her a look, "I'm serious, this is bothering me."

"Have you ever heard the stories of people, especially women, who gain superhuman strength because the people they love are in danger?" she tapped her chin, "It could be just a fluke."

Sakura bit her lip, "Yeah, a one time thing…" her pink locks fell into her face. The orange haired man nodded, but went unconvinced. His eyes bore down on Sakura, making the young girl uncomfortable.

"Well, I'd better help the boys pack up." Konan ruffled her friend's bright hair and waved to Sakura.

'That's right,' Sakura thought to herself. Today was the day the group was heading to the next town. They wouldn't be back for another year. If she was having second thoughts, now was the time to act on them, because she was stuck with the Cirque for an entire year. Would her parents even miss her for being missing this long? Did they even miss her now? The seventeen year old girl gripped her knees and pulled them close to her. Maybe she could ask Pein to let her stop by? No, she wouldn't let herself fall victim to homesickness. Besides, this was her new home now.

"Having second thoughts about staying with us?" Pein's deep voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Uh, no…no…I was thinking about having to put up with Hidan and Deidara's fighting for an entire year." Sakura smiled sheepishly.

The older man chuckled, "You get used to it. And by then they might be afraid of the super strong young woman we added to the group."

Sakura pouted, "I thought we agreed that it was a fluke, that it was one of those moments…"

"You don't have to be afraid to be yourself here." he rose from his seat and walked off towards camp to pack his belongings into the trucks. Sakura sat with her mind buzzing wildly.

OooOooOooOooOooO

Deidara groaned shoving his clay into a huge box, "This sucks, un." brown eyes looked up and stared at him.

"I hate packing up my clay," he muttered, "And having to be without it for four days, un! Ugh!"

Sasori rolled his eyes and placed one of his puppets into the wooden crate they usually rested in. The red head hated when the blonde complained about packing up his clay, which was every time the left a town. He preferred when she blonde was quiet, a rare feat, but it was still possible, even when he had to tie up the artist and gag him.

He stood from his cot and walked over to one of his other crates and grabbed the small wooden block and a scraping tool. The puppet master whittled the wood piece, while Deidara cried over the last of the clay being packed up. Finally, the blonde left to go find something else to do.

"Thank the heavens…" Sasori muttered, continuing his work. He had one side finished, and started the second side when Konan walked in. His cold eyes looked up and met the amber ones she bore, "Yes?" the artist was getting irritated today. At this rate he would never finish his new chest cavity.

"I need you and Itachi to take Sakura to the store and buy her a few changes of clothes and anything else she needs. You know I can't trust Kakuzu to take her, with his money issues, and Hidan and Kisame are too…inapt for this job."

Sasori sighed and stood up, "Okay…we'll be right back…" he grabbed a long sleeve shirt and put on some shoes. The girl was waiting for him with Itachi near the small car the traveling group kept for times such as this. Itachi was fawning over Sakura, playing with her short hair, much to her chagrin.

"I can't help it, imouto," he smiled, "I love it!" Sasori raised his eye brow. Yester day Itachi had been a brooding pile of goth and emo. Today he was playing older brother to Sakura?

"What the hell is wrong with you," Sasori accused the raven haired man. Itachi shrugged and patted Sakura's hair again.

"She reminds me of a little girl who needs a brother to care for her!" he placed his hand on her shoulder in a more serious manner, his eyes returned to their cold gaze, "I don't want to see her get hurt…" Sakura looked up at him with amazement. This was obviously new for her too, something she hadn't expected of the usually silent male. Sasori rose his brow again. Come to think of it, that was the longest sentence the Uchiha had ever spoken to anyone.

The walking puppet nodded and grabbed the keys Konan had given him. He climbed into the driver's seat, but the gaze he felt on him didn't go unnoticed. The rose haired girl was staring at him, or more so, his body. She had seen the true body the previous night when he had pulled off his cloak.

Sasori looked into the rearview mirror to see her face twisted with an odd expression. She was completely focused on her thoughts. What was going on in that head of hers? Wait. Why did he care? She was most likely sickened by the fact he had destroyed his human body to make a new one, one that would last forever.

His eyes narrowed and he gripped the steering wheel. He hated the human race. They were a bunch of judgmental creatures with nothing better to do than point out flaws in others. They conformed with those like them to gang up on those different. Humans were horrible things. He no longer was part of the human race, far from it. His group, they were like him. They didn't fit in and could never be who they were.

This girl was no different from the many humans he had encountered before.

He parked in the parking lot, and shoved the door open. He Didn't care if Itachi and Sakura were behind him or not, he didn't have the money, so he didn't care.

OooOooOooOooOooO

Sakura filtered through the racks of clothes, but didn't find anything too interesting. She looked up at her new surrogate brother. He had seemed to revert back to the self she had known, quiet and brooding. It was kind of annoying. Having him follow her around like a lost dog, but she shrugged it off. At least she had someone to turn to when she needed it here.

He grabbed a pink sun dress and pushed it up against her. The shirt reached her knees and there was a large bow in the back. Sakura immediately shook her head, but Itachi smiled softly, "It suits you…" so Sakura gave up and added the dress to her small pile of shirts and shorts.

Itachi advised her to get pants too, because not all places were as warm as Konoha, so she complied. The girl also picked up shampoo and soap, as well as a few other important key items. They found Sasori in the art supplies grabbing a few things for himself.

The way back was oddly silent. Sakura refused to look up at either of the guys. She felt tension coming from Sasori, and Itachi felt it too, putting him on edge. She felt awkward and out of place. Once back at the camp site she took her things and put them in her small backpack.

Konan told her which vehicle she would be riding in, so Sakura took her small carry on bag and placed it in the front seat of the truck she would be in. With everyone already packed up, it was down to the last few minutes before they headed off for the next city, which was days away.

Sakura climbed into her seat and found Deidara climbing in next to her. He smiled, "Hey there, un."

She smiled lightly, "Hi." she watched him grab a small bag that was attached to his side. Inside it was a bunch of clay.

The rosette giggled, "Kisame mentioned you couldn't go long with out you clay…"

The blonde artist just looked up and grinned, "Nope, un." She giggled again and leaned back in her seat.

Deidara certainly was an interesting person. His love of art made Sakura smile. The teen was one of those few people who was happy wherever he went as long as he had the small thing in life that made his life bearable. For the blonde, it was clay, and of course fireworks and explosions.

Sakura looked at him, "Why to you wear your hair like that?" she crossed her arms. He shrugged, his eyes staying on his clay.

"I mean, it's cute…but you cover your eye…" she smiled. A vein popped on the blonde and he glared at her.

"My hair is not 'cute', un! It's artistic!" he turned away from her. A familiar blue face leaned inside the window. The girl looked up and smiled at Kisame.

"Eh, don't worry about that, pinky. He acts like that to everyone who relates him to a girl, I mean last week I called him gay…" Kisame smirked, "He hit me with his purse…"

Sakura dissolved into giggles, but Deidara turned and started yelling, "It's not a purse! It's my clay bag!"

"What ever you call it, blondie," the shark man chuckled. A shoe suddenly found its way into Kisame's face. The blue skinned man stumbled away from the truck door holding his nose.

Deidara was huffing angrily, with his arms crossed over his chest. Kisame walked back up to the door and threw the shoe back in, nailing Deidara in the arm.

"You even throw like a girl!" the land shark chuckled walking off. The irritated blonde grumbled to himself about the stupid piece of sushi and made plans for a fish dinner. Sakura only giggled and looked up to see the red head walking up.

Sasori did not look happy as he climbed into the truck and started it. He didn't even ask why his normally upbeat friend was beating up the ball of clay. The pink haired girl felt his tension, in fact it felt as if it was crushing her. She tried to scoot closer to Deidara, but his wrath was also crushing.

'How did it come to this?' she wondered. Was it going to be like this the entire trip? Sakura groaned and hoped not, the past five minutes were killer enough. Things got a little better when the trucks and cars began to head out. She turned her head and looked out in the direction of her hometown, her personal hell. The girl knew she would not see it again for at least a year, and despite the hell she went through there, she still felt pangs of regret for not saying good bye to her parents, at least. She didn't regret joining up with this group, they were great people, yet she couldn't help wonder what her parents thought about her disappearing.

OooOooOooOooOooO

A tall woman with cascading blonde hair and green eyes walked into the empty feeling room. She had never meant for this to happen, but how would you react when your husband had dark black hair and you had blonde, and your daughter was born with a cotton candy pink.

She had tried to tell herself it was unique, rare, and that made the young Haruno girl special. She tried so hard. And despite it all, it was hard to introduce her daughter to friends and coworkers. They all began to believe the girl was a freak. She would never think that of her baby girl, but it hurt to think others looked at her and her husband with disdain when they thought they let their daughter dye her hair wild colors.

It was terribly difficult to convince the school board that her hair was completely natural. They finally came to terms with it and let the child attend. Only a few years later Sakura had been playing in the school yard with a little girl, being that her friend Ino was at home sick. No one knew the jungle gym was unstable, it had been standing strong for years. So when it came toppling down on the little girls, no one had expected it.

This was the first time Sakura had shown signs of being even more unusual. With the girls trapped beneath the huge metal bars and iron grates, no one could reach them. The fire men and police were late getting to the scene and the two had very little time left. Sakura did something no one had ever seen a child do, something few people had ever done. She began to panic, slamming her body against the walls that surrounded them. The pink haired girl knew with her friend's leg trapped beneath the heavy metal, it wasn't going to end well.

Her hands pushed against the metal. For full grown people, moving a car or something was easy with enough energy and adrenaline, and just the right amount of danger. It was a potent mix, but still an amazing feat for just a full grown adult. For a six year old to lift a pure iron grate off of herself and another little girl, and to hold it up until the fire men were able to remove it fully, it made front pages in the local news.

The parents were put through hell when scientists and other people begged to study their little girl. It took two years of nearly complete lockdown for things to die down. Sakura had to be home schooled, and both of her parents were forced to stay home with her and work from home.

The six year old had no idea what was going on around her and when she questioned her mother, the woman just cried. She loved her baby girl, but every night she begged god for a normal daughter, wishing Sakura had been born with blonde hair. Maybe the little girl could have had normal strength as well.

It was only a few years later that the girl began to pull into herself. She began talking to herself, or rather to something she called Jiko Uchigawa***. Jiko had become the girls imaginary friend. At a young age, imaginary friends were nice, especially to children who had trouble making friends, or were lonely, but Sakura was starting high school soon and still had Jiko with her.

Her parents begged her to grow out of Jiko already, but Sakura remained intent on Jiko being there. Bad things happened all the time. Things would go wrong or Sakura would steal or get into fights at school. When questioned, Sakura would always blame it on Jiko. It was Jiko's fault.

Sakura's mother had had enough. She sent the child to a therapist. After several months of therapy, Jiko vanished, as did Sakura's will to fight. The girl became more introverted and talked less to people. Even Ino never came over anymore.

After one incident where Sakura had finally lost her temper at her mother, she ripped a door right off the hinge, they decided to have her tested again. They found out the reason to her superior strength. The pink haired Haruno had complete control of her adrenal glands, meaning she could pump the natural drug into her muscles at will, and use the pumped up hormone to her advantage, through her strength.

They finally convinced Sakura to stop using her strength at all. Her parents didn't know how much it killed their daughter inside. They didn't know how much they pushed her away from who she was. They didn't know of her suffering at school, or how her childhood friend, Ino had betrayed the pink haired girl. It wasn't until the girl had run away that they knew anything. And who was to blame the young girl? Had she told her mother or father, they would have pushed her further to be normal.

The tall woman sank to the floor and placed her face in her hands and sobbed violently, only to be ripped from it a few hours later by a loud knock at the door. It was the police.

The woman's heart rose, hoping they had found where her daughter had run off to, but things weren't always that easy.

"We found her scent heading east through the woods, but when we arrived there at the cirque camp, no one said they'd seen her." they explained, "So we were allowed to search the grounds. Her scent was completely gone." the woman looked down and saw the german shepard dog panting in the evening heat.

"We think she made it to the campsite, but was abducted… I'm sorry ma'am, but there's nothing else we can do unless someone had seen her."

She thanked them softly and walked to her daughter's cold room. Her heart throbbed at the thought of her daughter running away, only to find herself kidnapped, missing, or worse.

OooOooOooOooOooO

It had only been two hours and Sakura wanted to tear her hair out. Deidara had finally gotten over his anger at Kisame and started telling the girl about true art, about how art was born to die, leaving a lasting impression in your mind. He said it caused an image that only you could see in your mind, something that belonged to only you.

Then Sasori joined this conversation, telling the blonde he was an idiot, and that art was meant to last forever. It wasn't supposed to be destroyed, but was supposed to be there for future generations to enjoy.

This escalated into a massive argument.

"Art is an explosion, un!" the blonde shouted, "It should disappear in one glorified blast, forever burned into our mind, un!"

"No, it is eternal and should never die." he kept calm with his eyes on the road. Sakura half wished the blonde beside her would, too.

He jumped in his seat, twisting to the side, using Sakura as a wall to lean on, "If it was eternal then everyone would see it the same, un. There would be no beauty!"

"At least it would be there for others to enjoy," Sasori glanced at his friend, which Sakura would probably use the word sparingly due to this fighting.

The bomb lover pushed off the pink haired girl and crossed his arms, "You would know art if it crawled up your ass, un. Take humans for example, un," he grabbed Sakura's head and turned it to face the puppet master, "She is cute and unique, un! She'll stick into your brain, but she won't last forever!"

Sakura pouted, "Ass…" Deidara laughed nervously and let go of her head, "Not that she won't live a long and happy life, un…"

The green eyed girl glared daggers, "You already fucked up…on my shit list! That's where you are!"

He grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, un."

Sakura giggled softly. Sasori rolled his eyes, "Humans are not art, they are the spilled paint on the masterpiece that is the eternal Earth."

Deidara sighed and turned away. He knew better than to piss off Sasori any further. Sakura, however, did not know as much.

"But…you're human, too." Deidara tried to cover her mouth, but was too late. The red head's eyes glinted with a dark shroud. He shot Sakura a glare that would kill.

"I am not human, I am art. I will never die, nor will I ever be one of those disgusting creatures that kill and hate for no good reason." he gripped the steering wheel hard, "All human kind does is lie, cheat, steal and torment those less fortunate then they."

"Not all human's are like that…" she whispered, obviously hurt. She reached out and touched his arm.

He yanked away from her touch, "Yes they are…I supposed that means you're not?"

Sakura shrugged, "I admit, I've never had very many friends, but I do know, that because of the life I've lived, all the torment I've taken, I can't be rude or mean to those who face the same fate." she smiled sadly, "Doing that means I welcome my own pain and suffering and wish it upon others. I know what it feels like to be teased and shunned, so to bring light into another person's life, who's just like me, is not only the right thing to do, but it makes me feel better, too."

The red haired puppet didn't reply, keeping his eyes in front of him. An odd, yet comfortable silence befell the truck. Deidara returned to his clay pushing and kept his mouth silently shut. Sakura leaned forward and turned the radio on.

Music blasted through the cab of the truck and Sakura smiled. This would help a lot.

Another two hours passed and Deidara received Konan's message about pulling off for a small break. They pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store. Tobi jumped from his truck and shoved Deidara and Hidan to the ground trying to get into to building.

"Tobi had to pee!" he yelled. Sakura giggled and helped the blonde to his feet. He dusted himself off and muttered something about replacing that mask with an exploding one.

Several of the group stretched and walked inside to grab snacks or use the restroom. Sakura walked down one isle and bumped into the ringmaster, the one she had only seen a few times. He was much taller than her, with dark plum red hair framing his face, and even hanging over his eyes.

She wanted to introduce herself, but he silently stepped away. Konan walked up, "So how's the trip so far? I'm sorry I had to stick you in the truck with them, but we had no where else."

The pink haired girl shrugged, "It was okay, they nearly ripped each other up about art, and me in the process." Konan laughed and apologized.

"Oh," Sakura piped, "Who is that guy?" she pointed to the tall man. Konan grinned.

"That's Nagato, he's kind of shy, but me him and Yahiko have been friends for many years." the blue haired girl smiled, "We three have had a pretty hard life, but together, we never let it get to us…We had each other and that was all that mattered." she walked off. Sakura eyed the man and smiled.

Once everyone was back in their trucks and cars they pulled out. The conversation with Konan still rang in Sakura's mind. She turned to Deidara, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you come across the Cirque?"

He grinned, "Itachi, un…" the clay lover leaned back in his seat and yawned, "I was a major trouble maker in school, being the odd kid. My parents died along time ago, my mom giving birth to me, un, and my dad killed himself a few years later.

"I was made to wear gloves all the time, so I was pissed, un. In middle school, I came across some old stash of gun powder and mixed it with my clay, un. I know it sounds dangerous, but my mouths made the mixing really easy, so I began practicing blowing this up. I used all kinds firecrackers and powders, until I made the perfect mixture, un. Well, being the badass I was, I started blowing shit up at school, un.

"I was constantly in trouble and being sent to juvie," he laughed, "One day, I was being released, it was only about a year or two ago, and Kisame, Sasori no Danna and Itachi were there, instead of my caretaker, un. Itachi told me that they thought they could find a better place for me to belong, so I told him off, un. We fought and I lost because of that damned illusion crap he does, un. They hauled me off where I met Pein and became a part of the Cirque D'Akatsuki, un!" Deidara had a huge smile. He seemed truly happy to be with the group.

"Yeah, Kisame is a dick sometimes, and Hidan is a jerk, but Danna is my best friend, and if they hadn't found me, I wouldn't have met him," he grinned, "We may fight, but he's like a brother I never had, un."

Sasori grinned lightly, but it faded quickly. Sakura smiled warmly, "That's beautiful."

Deidara nodded.

"What about you?" she turned to Sasori, who glared harder.

Sasori's death glare lightened some, "You really want to know about me? Okay, I'll tell you.

"Thirty-five years ago, a child was born to a couple who lived with the man's mother and her brother in the middle of the desert." Sakura's eyes widened. Sasori definitely didn't look 35, "He grew up to be a happy child, surrounded by love. His parents were scientists first, and parents second, though, so when they developed an antidote to a toxic venom of the scorpions native to the land, it was a major breakthrough.

"They left to deliver this mixture to a local hospital in hopes that it would help people who were stung. The couple never made it to their destination. They had been attacked by desperate men trapped in the unforgiving sands, left for dead, all so a few human men could have a small canteen of water.

"The child sat at his little home, waiting for his parents to come home so he could be held again, so that he could play with his mother's hair and ride on his father's back. They never came. The child's grandmother told him that they had to stay in the city and help victims. He believed her. What he did not know is that she had received a letter from the city, saying his parents had died a horrible death related to the sands.

"He continued to believe his parents stayed in the city for ten more years. It wasn't until he was cleaning the house that he found the letter that was a decade old. In one huge clash of anger and pain, he realized his parents were never coming home. He dedicated the next two years developing a way to make sure he would never have to feel that pain again.

"The young man took his heart and everything required to keep him alive and inserted it into a body he had made to look identical to him. This worked to numb the pain, but the memories still stung. He didn't know this would happen, but it was too late by then to go back. He was trapped in the body he had created. It was then that I was born. I traveled away from that poor soul's home and life to live as the world's most dangerous desert scorpion."

Sakura felt tears prick her eyes. So that was it? Sasori was who he was so he didn't have to feel pain anymore, the pain of losing someone so close to him. Human need to survive killed his parents and lies brought the intense pain that he had felt. He had been betrayed by the only loved ones he had left in the world.

She could no longer blame him for his hatred towards the creature that made all of these traveling people suffer.

He looked at her with his uncaring eyes, "Don't cry, don't pity me or that creature who created me, I don't want it. I don't need pity." Sasori stared ahead.

"So…that boy…in your story…was you?" she whispered.

He nodded, "I've left that life behind." Deidara had heard this story before, and every time he realized none of them had truly gone through so much pain. Not only had a man grown up believing one thing, but the truth came crashing down on him, he had managed to find a way to tear himself apart and become inhuman.

Silence once again filled the truck and Sakura dried her eyes of the tears that threatened to fall. she sat thinking for what seemed like an eternity. The sun began dipping below the horizon, meaning they would be pulling into a motel soon.

OooOooOooOooOooO

Sure enough, they pulled off the highway and into the lot of a decent hotel, Konan would have nothing cheaper, much to Kakuzu's protesting.

They unloaded from the cars and trucks and began stretching. Sasori took a few minutes to reach into his bag and pull out his current project. Sakura ran up to him after everyone else had walked up to the counter. She grabbed him arm, "I know it won't mean much, but I promise not to hurt you…any of you. I may not know how you felt, but I've hurt too…" she smiled and walked off to find Konan.

Sasori stared in her direction for awhile before shaking his head and grabbing what would soon become the new piece to his now broken chest. She was certainly a strange human. A smirk played his lips and he locked up the truck.

* * *

><p>How was it? I personally really liked the Sasori story XD it came out better than expected.<p>

a light bit of fluff, but sasori is acting weird XD lol

I also love Big Brother Itachi XD He's so sweet. He took a liking to the pink haired girl! lol

*** It means Inner Self (Jiko Uchigawa)

Lady Pyrien

Don't forget to tell me what you thought!


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